Media News

LinkedIn Good for B2B but Media Buyers Want More

12 May 2011

Professional online network LinkedIn is failing to turn its popularity into advertising dollars, according to leading media buyers although digital media buyers said the platform delivers good B2B results, but should do more to attract a wider advertiser base.

The eight-year-old site was initially aimed at recruiters who pay to research millions of professionals worldwide. They provided the bulk of its revenue accounting for 41 per cent of US$161 million turnover in January to September 2010, according to a company statement filed in the US in preparation for a public listing.

Advertising accounted for a third, or US$51million, followed by premium member subscriptions at 27 per cent. The site has been trying to give members more reasons to stick around. It recently launched LinkedIn Today, a news aggregator based on member profiles and introduced better article sharing methods similar to Facebook's "likes", but is yet to capitalise on advertising.

LinkedIn Australia spokesperson Tara Commerford declined to comment on revenue splits or the upcoming float, but said the site was the dominant social platform for Australian B2B marketers, followed by blogs and Twitter.

LinkedIn reported reaching two million members in Australia last month. Nielsen NetView March figures put its unique user base at 1.4 million (excluding mobile access), a 32 per cent increase since October. It now ranks fifth among member communities in Australia, behind Facebook, Blogger, WordPress and Twitter.